Kalimati wholesale market, which deals with more than 60 per cent of total vegetable transaction in the Valley, has witnessed a sharp fall in the supply of fresh vegetables for the past two weeks. [break]
Tulsi Gautam, director of Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Development Board, said the volume of vegetable supply went down to around 350 tons per day against 600 ton a day on a normal day due to the falling production in the source districts.
“Little or no rainfall in major vegetable producing districts such as Kavre, Dhading, Makawanpur and Nuwakot has pushed the quantity of vegetables entering into the Kalimati market significantly down in the recent days,” Gautam told myrepublica.com.
Most of the hilly districts, which are key producers of vegetables, have no sufficient irrigation facility to support optimum production in the winter season.
Kathmandu valley and adjoining districts meet more than 70 percent of the vegetable demand of the capital.
Gautam said supply of fresh bean, potato, bottle guard, chilly, pumpkin, cauliflower and cabbage have sharply declined for a couple of weeks.
“Though the main season for vegetable production has already begun from mid-March, supply of vegetables has continued to decline,” said Tika Prasad Humagain, a wholesale trader of fresh vegetables at the Kalimati market.
“Volume of transaction from my shop used to hover above three tons a day. But with falling supply, the transaction hardly reaches three tons a day these days,” said Humagain.
Lower production in the winter season has also led to a rise in the price of major vegetables like beans, potato, cowpea, pumpkin, cauliflower and cabbage.
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